One period remained in Bethlehem Catholic's boys lacrosse game at Northampton on Wednesday afternoon when Golden Hawks coach Kody Rivera told goalie Eric Schuler and the rest of the team something they likely already knew, given the history of the program.

"One more strong quarter — we haven't had a shutout in our program's history," Rivera said, his voice rising above the hoots and hollers from his players gathered around him. "Schuler, this is on you; defenders, eat a shot for this guy."

The shutout slipped away when Nick Gutekunst went low to beat Schuler early in the period. However, moments after the final siren sounded, the Hawks raced out to celebrate around their goalie, since the bigger prize — a rare victory — didn't slip away.

Becahi won the battle between the two youngest programs in the area, using a five-goal second-quarter flurry to take a 7-3 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference triumph. It was only the second victory in the program's three-year history — both over Northampton, which is still searching for the first win in its two-year history.

"We know they're a young program like us and we can compete with them," said Rivera, who is in his second season.

Bethlehem Catholic lost its first 21 games until beating Northampton 10-5 last April 11. Wednesday's win snapped a 12-game losing streak, including the first three this season.

Northampton, which is the only club program remaining in the EPC now that Bethlehem granted varsity status to the programs at Freedom and Liberty, has now lost its first 21 games, including eight this season.

"When we started the club, we knew it would take about five years to get our feeder programs in place to start feeding the high school, and we're pretty much on track where we think we need to be," said Northampton coach Joe Engleby, who has one senior on the roster.

Obviously, success — and failure — is measured in ways beyond wins and losses in young programs. The fact his team didn't win Wednesday didn't disappoint Engleby; what did was the lack of effort and focus he saw on the field.

"When I get effort from you, it validates what I'm doing," he lectured his team during a third-period timeout, using the phrase "major step backward" to describe the play he was watching. "You're not giving back to me what I give you, and I don't think that's fair."

"Effort cures pretty much everything, and we're an effort-based program. Today we just fell a little bit short," Engleby said afterward.

Northampton has one advantage Becahi doesn't have — that developing feeder system.

"We're getting kids who haven't played a day in their life, and they're coming here and contributing," Rivera said. "One of our varsity starters never played lacrosse in his life until this season. He just worked his butt off, and now he's a starter. That really shows if you really give effort, it can go a long way."

Like Engleby, Rivera has a young roster. He started the year with six seniors but lost his team's best player, all-time leading scorer Matt Lancaster, to a torn ACL early in the season. Lancaster has been team captain for three years and Rivera said that leadership void hasn't quite been filled on the field.

Still, he said, his younger players bring an energy he hopes carries over.

"The younger kids stick-skill wise and mentally may know the game of lacrosse. They may just not be able to play physically with the bigger kids yet," he said, adding that knowing they have a few more years to play helps them bounce back from the many lopsided losses they've endured.

"If they let up 20 goals against someone like Parkland this year, they come back with a goal of maybe holding them to 10 goals next year. It's not as easy for the seniors to bounce back from games like that, so that's where our youthfulness pays off."

Northampton has taken its share of poundings as well, and the Konkrete Kids know it could be worse.

"The kids know they go up against Southern Lehigh, Easton, programs like that, and they know it could be 50-0," he said. "But the coaches have been so gracious, They back off, they put in offenses and defenses we can understand and compete against. It's been a very positive situation.

"We're playing better lacrosse than we did last year," Engleby added. "We're teaching a higher level of lacrosse, and we're coaching for two, three years down the road. I tell these kids all the time: It's so hard to do what you're doing; you're setting the stage for the kids who will come behind you and win. These guys are the builders, starting the legacy that we hope to have."